Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 23:06 -0500
From: "Jayadvaita Swami"
To: "Madhudvisa dasa"
Subject: Hari Bol

[I have deleted some text and the bold/underline is by me - Madhudvisa dasa]

[Ed. Note:  > text is from Madhudvisa prabhu; Bold text is from Jayadvaita Swami]

Dear Sir,

> I humbly admit I found it uncomfortable that you yelled at me so

> much tonight, calling me so many bad names and overall was very
> rough with me.

You deserved it. And more...

> We are both followers of Srila Prabhupada and we may
> have different opinions on some points but we should be able to meet
> in a gentlemanly manner.

You're twenty years my junior. You claim to be a brahmacari, and I am
a sannyasi. You were initiated (if at all) ten years later than me.
And yet you think you're perfectly within your rights to broadcast to
the whole world, "Jayadvaita Swami [is] disobeying Srila Prabhupada's
direct order that he should not change a word in his books" (an order,
of course, that Srila Prabhupada never gave me).

And still, after publishing this and other such thoroughly rude
insults, you somehow believe you're entitled to be treated "in a
gentlemanly manner."

Hmmm. . .

> You are asking me to apologize but I would humbly request some sort
> of apology from you also. You called me "shit head" so many times, I
> really do not think that is appropriate.

You're right. I apologize [for calling you "s...head"]. If I'd used Srila Prabhupada's language, I would have said you have cow dung for brains.

> I understand you are upset about some of the things I have posted on
> the net, but on close examination you will find that every posting
> contains a significant point which we need to consider.

And lots of garbage we don't. And, by the way, you don't raise any
points that BBT editors and consultants with much finer discretion
than you haven't considered already....
...

> Just on the few changes we looked at tonight you admitted to three
> errors you have introduced into the new version and surely if one
> did a through study there would be many hundreds of new errors.

Two, if I recall. Both of them petty. And I didn't admit that I
introduced them. If you'd been listening, you might have heard that I
didn't know whether the errors were mine or those of a typist.

> The point of my website is to show that in so many ways the
> philosophy presented in your gita differers substantially from
> Prabhupada's original gita. And you accept that. I accept that in
> some cases you have recovered missing things, etc. But overall I can
> not personally put my faith in your gita and so many devotees feel
> like this.

I am not in need of your faith, sir. Put it wherever you'd like.

> But your edited gita rests on your authority. You have decided what
> to change and what not to change and as we saw there are so many
> things you could have changed, but have chosen not to, therefore it
> is all according to your opinion. You have decided what to change
> and what not to change.

Son, “every” editor decides what to change and what not to change.

And your complaint seems to be that my opinions differ from yours.
Your opinion is that perhaps fifty of the revisions are justified, the
rest not....

Should I feel crushed?

Yes, after due deliberation and consultation, I decided what to change
and what not to change....

> The point I have made is this is a very dangerous precedent for the
> future. We have to preserve the original teachings of Srila
> Prabhupada. And the original MacMillan gita was accepted by
> Prabhupada, he did not request anyone to reedit it. That is the main
> point. If Prabhupada wanted his books reedited that would be a
> different matter.
>
> TKG put this exact question to Srila Prabhupada in the rascal
> editors conversation, "Can JAS go through and reedit the books?" and
> Prabhupada's conclusion was, "No, the next printing should be the
> original way." So that is a clear order from Srila Prabhupada NOT to
> reedit the books. Your interpretation of this is not honest. The
> original way clearly means the original way the books were printed.

Not honest? Dear Mr. Honesty: I'm sitting here in front of my
VedaBase, and I'll be hog-tied if I see anywhere in that conversation,
"Can JAS go through and reedit the books?"

You can take your brand of honesty and shove it.

> I think you are a little unfair in so heavily criticizing the
> articles I have written,

I haven't criticized them heavily enough.

> Hopefully when we meet again it can be on more gentlemanly terms.

Hopefully when we meet again you will deserve it.

> I
> am not anything special
> but I am sincerely trying to serve Srila
> Prabhupada with all my energy
> and I do not really find it very
> comfortable if you just want to yell at me and call me names.

Oh, you're uncomfortable, are you? Dear, dear! You can dish out
insults to your seniors in public, but when your seniors dish it out
to you in private, you can't take it. Poor baby!

> What
> is the point of this?  My points are valid, and you have agreed to
> that, you have agreed to three errors in just the few verses we
> looked at tonight, so I humbly submit that all the faults are not on
> my side. You have to admit that there are some faults on your side
> also then we can make some progress.

Sir, I don't have to negotiate with you. You can make progress on your
own.

...

Hare Krsna.

     Yours in Srila Prabhupada's service,
     Jayadvaita Swami

[I have deleted some text and the bold/underline is by me - Madhudvisa dasa]